Skylight



(No Model.)

J. F. FORDER'ER.

SKYLIGHT.

Patented Jan. 19, 1886..

4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH F. FORDERER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, OALIFORFIA SKYLIGHT.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,650, dated January19, 1886. Application filed March 29,1.84. 7 Serial No. 126,086. (No ml(lelJ- To all whom/it Wtay concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPH F. FORDERER, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement inSkylights; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same.

My invention relates to certain improvements in skylights; and itconsists in a novel construction of the channeled bars by which theglass is held, air-passages for ventilating purposes and to equalize thetemperature, stops for retaining the glass in place, and in certaindetails of construction, which will be more fully explained by referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of a skylight.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken through one of the bars.Fig. 3 is a transverse sectio showing a modified form of the bar.

Skylight-bars are commonly made hollow, and have been made in two ormore parts namely, the body, the cap, and the gutter which are rivetedor otherwise secured together. The lower part of the bar comprising thebody and the gutter being fixed, the glass is then placed so as to restupon the shoulders of the bar, after which the cap is put on andsecured.

In my skylight the bar is composed of a single sheet of metal, formed bysuitable machinery, and comprises the cap A, and the body B, having achannel between itself and the cap to receive the glass, and a gutter,0, formed by turning the two edges of the sheet outwardly, so that thisgutter will receive moisture that may drip from the interior of theglass and carry it away. With my construction it is necessary to leavethe upper and lower ends of the channels between the body and the capopen, so that the glass may be slipped into place from one end or theother, being bedded and fixed with asuitable cement or putty. In somecases the skylight may be so near to a structure at either the upper orlower edge that the glass must be slipped in from the opposite edge, andthis is provided for by the removable stops or caps E and F, which arescrewed or otherwise secured upon the frame-work of the shylight at thelower and upper ends respectively, these caps serving to cover andprotect the open ends of the bars also. The foul air, which collectsinside sides of the body B of the bar, and it may pass out throughopenings I, made through the frame at the upper end; The stop F, whichretains the upper edge of the glass, and overlaps it to prevent theentrance of wet or moisture atthat point, has a plate or flange, F,extending down over the outside of the Ventilator-frame, and protectingthe upper ends of the open skylight-bars, so as to form a sort of achamber between the openings I and the lower edge of this plate F, intowhich the air from the hollow bar first passes, thence escaping beneaththe edge of the flange, as shown in Fig. 2, the flange being bentoutward at this lower edge, so as to leave an open channel or spacebeneath it. The lower ends of the skylight-bars B are also connected byopenings with the exterior of the frame, and they are protected byhollow-arched caps H, which extend downward, so as to prevent theingress of wet, and at the same time they allow air to enter the barsand to pass through them freely, escaping at the upper ends, as beforedescribed, thus supplying fresh air to equalize the temperature, whichwould otherwise be very high in the space beneath the skylight. Thisalso reduces the amount of condensation on the glass and the resultingwater to be carried away by the gutters.

In the usual formation of these skylightframes they are made of separatepieces, as before stated, and the free edges extend upward, beingafterward covered by a separate cap. When the skylight is large,jtheweight of itself and the glass causes the bars to bend downward, andthis is not resisted by the thin edges of metal which project upward, asthe tendency is to bend and buckle these edges when the weight comesupon the bar, allowing the whole bar to give way.

In my construction the upper part of the bar or cap is formed by bendingthe center of the metal sheet into a semi-cylindrical diamond or othershape, contracting it to form a neck where the edges of the glassapproach each other, expanding it again beneath to form shoulders,uponwhich the glass rests, and then continuing it downward contracting itagain, so that the sides come together, after which theventilator,beneath the glass,passes through openingsor slots-G, which are made inthe the lower edges are bent outward and turned up to form the gutter.All the strain of compression in this bar comes upon the upper continuous portionof the metal, the shape of which resists the tendency tocompression at this point, while the tension or pulling-strain upon thelower part of the bar is much better resisted by that portion formingthe gutter than the strain of compression would be resisted by the edgeswhen turned upward.

The whole construction forms a very strong and perfect skylight-bar withample means for ventilation and the equalizing of the temperature.

Having thus described my invention, what I I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a skylight, the frame having the parallel bars formed of singlesheets of metahwith permanent channels between the body and head,'incombination with stops or plates E and F,secured across the ends of thebars, sub stantially as herein described.

2. In a skylight, the frame having the hollow bars formed in a singlepiece and perfo rated upon their sides, in combination with a cap. F,having a flange, F, forming an airchannel, substantially as hereindescribed.

3. In a skylight, the frame with the hollow perforated bars formed in asingle piece, having their upper and lower ends open, and the caps E andF, extending across these ends, in combination with the hollow archedcaps or ducts H, and the perforations I, and the flange F, substantiallyas herein described.

4. In combination with a skylight-frame, as herein described, the stopF, provided with a flange, F, forming an air-channel, substantially asherein described.

5. A skylight-bar formed of asheet of metal folded at its center, so asto form a deep and open head or upper portion, and a similar body withspaces or channels for the reception of the glass, formed by thevertical rib extending between the head and body, the lower edges of thesheet being turned outward and upward to form gutters at the bottom andbelow the plane of the glass and separate from it.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH F. FORDERER.

\Vitnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, H. 0. LEE.

